South Africa vs India, 2nd T20I – Match Predictions

The first game of the T20 series ended in an easy win for India and it was hardly a surprise for anyone. The Men in Blue carried from where they left in the ODI series and ruthlessly smashed the hosts at the beautiful Bullring to take a 1-0 lead. They will want to carry the momentum to the SuperSport Park as well and seal the series with another dominating performance.

For the Proteas, it will be an opportunity to keep the series alive, but if they wish to do so, they will have to raise their game. They were below average the other evening and if they continue to play that quality of cricket the mighty Indian side will run through as they have such balance in the composition covering all facets of the game.

Probable nature of the pitch

The SuperSport Park throughout this tour has dished out slow and low surfaces and the nature of this pitch is not going to change overnight unless they leave a decent amount of grass on it. However, the possibility of that happening for a T20 game is minimal.

The cricketing logic says you bat first on a low and slow surface, but the fact that it’s a T20 game, the captains will be more tilted towards the field-first option simply for the reason that chasing has been a trend in this format of the game and has got the teams positive results.

There is a women’s game to be played on the same surface ahead of the men’s clash which means the pitch will deteriorate if it’s a sluggish one to start with. While that is definitely a point to consider, the captain winning the toss and batting first will still be surprising.

Playing Combination

South Africa

South Africa had an inexperienced squad at their disposal and they put out the best XI they could in Jo’burg, but it wasn’t just good enough. They were all over the place with the ball and didn’t show enough steel with the bat to get over the line despite the fact that India posted a very chaseable target on a small ground with altitude into play as well.

Tabraiz Shamsi was the pick of the bowlers for South Africa in the first game and that might tempt them to go with another spinner in the form of Aaron Phangiso for the second game. Phangiso is a crafty customer in the shortest format of the game and has been very handy for the Proteas in the past. The possibility of the Centurion pitch being a slow one should only add weight to this option.

Predicted XI: Jon-Jon Smuts, Reeza Hendricks, JP Duminy (C), David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen (WK), Farhaan Behardien, Chris Morris, Andile Phehlukwayo, Junior Dala, Tabraiz Shamsi, Aaron Phangiso

India

India would ideally have picked their first choice attack to start off the series, but the injury to Kuldeep Yadav meant the left-arm speedster Jaydev Unadkat got a go and he didn’t bowl badly. Considering how important Kuldeep is going to be for India going ahead in all formats of the game, they wouldn’t like to rush the chinaman spinner and Unadkat will have another opportunity to showcase his potential.

Also, Manish Pandey didn’t quite flourish batting at no. 5, but it’s unlikely Virat Kohli will drop him after just one game. He will be persisted with and will probably bat at the same position again. However, it will be interesting to see if India continue with Suresh Raina at no. 3.

Predicted XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (C), MS Dhoni (wk), Manish Pandey, Suresh Raina, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal

Here is what CricTracker predicts for the game:

Probable Top Performers

Junior Dala (South Africa) | Shikhar Dhawan (India)

Head to Head

Total games played – 11| South Africa won – 4| India won – 7| N/R – 0

Timing of the match: 09:30 pm IST, 04:00 pm GMT, 06:00 pm Local Time

Broadcast Details

TV – Sony Ten 1 (English Commentary), Sony Ten 3 (Hindi Commentary)

Live streaming – SonyLIV

The prediction is for India to win this match and enhance their lead to 2-0.

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